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The Wisconsin Legislature's special committee on single-use plastics, which convened for the first time only weeks ago, was established to find ways to minimize the amount of plastics in the state's landfills, said state Rep. Spencer Black, chairman of the committee. "Plastic, as a petrochemical product, contains a valuable resource that we should seek to use again instead of using it once and throwing it out," Black added. The committee has evaluated the opinions of experts, including those from the American Chemistry Council, and will meet again in October to decide its next steps.

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A variety of new green chemicals were introduced by major chemical makers in August. Among those products were DuPont's Energain battery component, which uses nanofiber-based polymeric separators; Dow Corning's Potting Agent and Neutral Sealant for solar applications; and advanced photovoltaic encapsulant designs from Solutia and Dow Chemical.

Scientists from Iowa State University have inadvertently produced ethylene glycol and propylene glycol while trying to make sugar derivatives from biomass using alcohol at high temperatures. The substances they yielded are high-value chemicals conventionally produced using expensive acid reagents or hydrogen gas. "There is potential here. ... It's not a wild dream to think this could be developed into a practical process," said Walter Trahanovsky, the chemistry professor leading the study.

Environmental advocates should consider focusing on the ecological impact of climate legislation rather than dwelling too much on the economic and national-security benefits of curbing carbon emissions, according to Bill McKibben, co-founder of 350.org. The collapse of the Senate climate bill shows that it isn't enough to "just talk about energy independence or some amorphous concepts like that. We better be quite honest and talk about the very real peril that the planet is in," McKibben added.

The City Commission of Brownsville, Texas, on Tuesday gave the first of two required approvals for an ordinance that would allow exemptions to a law prohibiting retail stores from distributing lightweight disposable plastic bags beginning Jan. 1. The amendments, which are up for a second reading and vote on Sept. 21, would allow reusable plastic bags that are at least 4 millimeters thick. Paper bags that are at least 65 pounds in basis weight would also be exempted from the ban.

Radioactive waste has been piling up at hospitals and research facilities around the U.S. since its disposal was banned from a rural South Carolina landfill July 1. The Associated Press reports nuclear-waste generators, experts, watchdogs and officials are worried that thousands of radioactive items have been lost. "They'll end up offered up on eBay and flea markets and sent to landfills, or metal recycling plants -- places where you don't want them to be," said Stephen Browne, radiation control officer at Troxler Electronic Laboratories.